just reading this a bit more and can I say, about bloody time. Well done Mr Crawford. Now let's see if K Rudd has the balls to implement.
I say this from the perspective of someone who has worked in the sports industry for almost 2 decades and been involved (not participated, but behind the scenes) in 2 Olympic games. But something had to change. I have some great memories of no-names winning medals. Dean Lukin’s win in 84 was one of my first sporting memories. Simon Fairweather in 2000 is still one of my fave moments in sport.
But at a time when all reports suggest that Australian obesity rates are still climbing it was clear that the billions of dollars we have invested into Olympic sports since we didn’t win a thing in 76 have achieved not a whole lot.
Where are the dramatic increases in rowing numbers since the Oarsome Foursome won all their golds? What about taekwondo after Lauren Burns? The numbers just aint there. Swimming will proclaim their participation numbers, but most of those stats are based on surveys in which people tick the “I participate in swimming” box because they have a pool or swim at the beach. So when 85% of the population lives within an hour or so of the beach, swimming is always going to get big numbers.
The justification for the spending was that it was good for Australia’s national identity to have this Olympic success. And that we would be creating role models for the kiddies to try to emulate. Clearly that’s not working.
Why? Because despite throwing millions of dollars at sports like rowing, wrestling, etc these sports are still run by largely amateurs. The resources just aren’t there.
That’s why Crawford has suggested the Govt needs to give more support to the likes of the football codes and netball. These are well resources organisations with legitimate development paths. The govt can piggyback and enhance these programs in wider communities, through more training and better facilities and get a greater percentage of the population participating than it could ever get with a, for instance, canoeing gold medal.
From a rugby perspective they need to ensure they are doing all they can in terms of soliciting the govt whilst making sure they continue to review their development programs. Part of that probably means they need to take a greater role in school sport. The NRL has the liability in that the NRL is still seen as the strong brand without the development arm (what exactly do the ARL do?) but this is supposedly changing.
The AFL have the very prominent Auskick program, but some reports of late indicate that the REAL changeover to actual club participation is really quite low. Auskick numbers come from any kid who picks up a sherrin. Therefore it’s about as realistic as the swimming figures. An AFL DO will visit a school for a few weeks, train 5 classes of 25 kids, and all of a sudden the AFL have another 125 participants, supposedly. Forget that most of those kids may never pick up the red ball again, or that they are playing club league or rugby.
Soccer has the massive potential. The govt will sink big big big bucks into this sport over the next decade or two. Particularly if they get the world cup. Scary big.
